Another digression from all the blogging on microblogging! But still this article has some sprinkling of social media trends here and there. Read on, buddy. Christian radio seems to be one tough business. Even though 80% of Kenyans say that they are Christians, very few ever follow up on issues to do with their faith. Now, what proportion of these group can be said to be loyal fans of Christian radio stations? I believe it is just a very small group. I know many do not even know any of the popular Christian radio presenters. More so, do they care a hoot about what is aired on the stations really?
I am one big fan of a particular Christian station that is really into CCM bandwagon. I was getting a little bit concerned of the high turnover of presenters on the station. Why were many of the presenters not staying for longer periods there? Presently, stations alone do not hog the limelight alone because of the coverage or their enticing programs. Presenters too, are working on their fame/careers. Check this out. Even as media houses have Facebook pages and Twitter profiles, their presenters have these social media accounts too. Christian radio stations have not been left behind in this. So, our presenters can get their fans/followers aside from their employer(s). Now just imagine if the presenter leaves one media house for another. I believe there is a slight negative impact on the stations audience. May be some of the station's fans would switch to the other station. Assuming Christian radio stations have very small audiences , then if a presenter leaves such a station the number of fans might decline.
And where do these stations get their financial support from? If they are affiliated to a particular denomination or church, they can easily get support through monies from tithes and offerings. OK, some churches do have some commercial interests that can bring in some revenue, so, well, it might not be solely through the 10 percent or the 20 bob coins we place in the offering baskets every Sunday. But if you look around you'll notice that some of the stations depend on donations from well wishers. And what about their workforce- read presenters? May be some employ members of their church or members of the clergy to play these roles so as to cut costs(?). Since media houses, like web publishers, earn their money from advertising, you wonder how much do Christian radio stations earn from the few adverts they run.
In short, Christian radio seems it ain't a cash-minting business in any way. If you want to start one, you'll have to get into it to further the Lord's Kingdom rather than to make money. I hope you remember that gospel station that was converted by its owners into a reggae station after only being on air for a few months.
P.S: I wonder what Christians would think if @SafaricomLtd were to run a Kenya Live (Kenya Live's Facebook Page) advert on any of the local Christian radio stations here yet it has some secular catz on its lineup. :-|

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